 "Weakness persists amid political uncertainty")
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) pulled out of the Congress-led UPA coalition on Tuesday in protest against the government's position on a U.S.-backed United Nations resolution on war crimes carried out during Sri Lanka's civil war.
At 1PM, the Sensex was down 232 points at 19,061 after touching an intra-day low of 18,939 and the Nifty was down 76 points at 5,759 after touching a low of 5,724 so far.
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Asian stocks remained firm as investors awaited a parliamentary vote in Cyprus on a bailout plan crucial to avert bankruptcy, but potential political instability in India emerged as fresh concerns. The Shanghai Composite was up 0.8%, Hang Seng gained 0.2%, Nikkei was up 2% and Straits Times was up 0.7%.
Realty Index was the top loser down 2.4% followed by metal, Bankex, capital goods, power, oil and gas, auto, consumer durables, FMCG and IT indices. However, healthcare was marginally up.
Bank shares witnessed profit taking after recent gains after the RBI in its mid-quarter review said that the headroom for further monetary easing remains quite limited.
In the Sensex pack, HDFC and HDFC Bank were down 1.3-2.3% each on selling pressure. HDFC Bank had rebounded on Monday after the private lender said it has appointed Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India to conduct an independent forensic enquiry into the allegations made by news website Cobrapost. Among other bank shares, ICICI Bank and SBI were down around 2% each.
Oil and Gas were also among the top Sensex losers. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries and ONGC were down 0.7% and 2.9%, respectively.
Other Sensex losers include L&T, Tata Motors, M&M, TCS, Bharti Airtel and Hindustan Unilever.
Gail India is the top Sensex gainer up 1.6% followed by Sun Pharma, ITC, Infosys and Bajaj Auto.
The BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices were down 1% each. Market breadth was weak with 1,813
declines and 742 advances on the BSE.